Somewhere Between
by latetate
Summary: The Potters meet eleven-year-old Damian Wayne for the first time when he Floos into their living room with tears in his eyes, begging for Teddy Lupin.


(I wrote this on my phone sorry there aren't paragrah seperations)

It was a quiet Monday night in the middle of July, and Harry Potter sat in his cozy home, patiently waiting of this wife to return home form a work party. He was sprawled on the couch and read a thick paperback book, written by a talented muggle author.

Suddenly, he heard a "Zink!" and, in the room across from Harry, a boy landed steadily on his feet, looking as if he just Flooed a far distance. The boy entered the living room wearing an expensive, stiff suit with a frown on his face. Harry;s head shot up upon his entering, and he saw the boy blink calmly when his eyes landed on Harry. "I need to speak with Teddy Lupin," the boy demanded in a shockingly authoritative tone for an 11 year-old boy. Harry quickly shut his book and placed it easily on the coffee table, without breaking eye contact with the child.

"Hello," Harry said, questionably with a crease forming between his eyebrows. He was unsure of who this boy was, let alone why he needed to speak with his godson. Harry placed his bare feet onto the wooden floor and asked, still sitting, "Who are you?" As a response the boy's frown deepened and, meeting Harry's eyes, he said, "My name is Damian Wayne and I must speak to Teddy."

 _Damian Wayne?_ Harry thought, his eyebrow twitching. Damian Wayne was a name Harry recognized. The boy had been a constant character in Teddy Lupin's letters from Hogwarts. A fellow first year Hufflepuff, Damian had become close friends with Teddy. Yet, Harry found it difficult to believe that it was the same boy who stood in front of him. In all Teddy's letters, a common theme about Damian was how caring he was. The boy that stood in front of Harry now did not seem exceptionally caring, and despite his calm exterior, looked to be on the edge of complete panic.

"Okay, Damian," Harry spoke calmly, standing up and walking to the boy now, "Why don't you come sit down in the kitchen, and we can talk about whatever it is that you need. Teddy's up in bed right now, sleeping. I'll tell him everything in the morning, okay?" Harry placed his hand lightly on Damian's shoulder, and tried to lead him into the kitchen.

Damian did not move and shook his head — tears began to form in his eyes, Harry noticed. "No," Damian said, "I need Teddy." And Harry would have said no, he couldn't see Teddy, but he saw those tears and he stepped in front of the little boy, barely fitting into the space between the coffee table and the child, and, as Harry moved, he hit his heel on the table, resulting in a "Ouch," from the older man. After his awkward move, Harry sat on the edge of the coffee table as blue eyes met green, and with his hands upon Damian's shoulders, Harry spoke, "Damian," he said, "I need you to tell me what's wrong so that I can help, okay? Can you do that? I'll call Teddy down after you talk to me."

Damian shook his head and held it high, "No," he said confidently. "It's far too important, I must talk with him now." And Harry would have repeated his 'No,' once again had he not seen the ever so slight quiver of this boys lip. God, Harry thought, if he falls for things like tears its astonishing that he was such a successful Auror.

"Alright, alright," Harry sighed, "Come to the kitchen with me, I'll get you some milk and I'll go get Teddy."

After getting Damian seated at the Breakfast Bar with a glass of milk and ice Harry walked up the stairs and knocked on his Godson's bedroom door. As expected, no answer came. Harry opened the bright yellow door and saw Teddy lying asleep with his constellation comforter covering him.

Harry walked to the boy and knelt down, "Teddy," he whispered into the young boy's ear, "Ted there's someone you need to talk to. Teddy..." And then, with a little shake from Harry, Teddy's currently blue eyes squinted opened. "Wuh?" Teddy mumbled. "Damian Wayne is downstairs — he needs to talk with you," Harry explained. Quickly, quicker than Teddy had ever been in the early morning, Teddy threw his legs over the bed and nearly kicked Harry in the back.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" Teddy asked. He looked relived at Harry's response, "He's in the kitchen, Ted. I think he's okay, but he needs you."

Teddy stood out of bed completely, dressed in his too-short pajama pants and one of his mum's old _Weird Sisters_ shirts that fit him more like a dress than like pajamas. Teddy made for the hallway, then the stairs with Harry following closely behind.

Harry haven't followed Teddy to the kitchen, he had instead opted to wait in the green colored living room. Once Teddy entered the kitchen he spoke.

"Damian?" he said, questionably. Damian, in turn, greeted with a Teddy Lupin with asimple, "Lupin," and a bob of his head.

Teddy stepped out of the entry way and walked over to Damian, frowning, "What are you doing here? What's wrong?" He asked, concern evident in his voice. Damian's lips briefly dipped down and his eyes flicked to the ground for a mere millisecond.

"I needed to talk to you," Damian spoke as he would if he were giving a speech; with a commanding presence that was so unusual for such a small child.

"Okay," Teddy, "What's up?" even in the early morning Teddy attempted to remain up beat, though he understood that his question might not be answered immediately. However, as soon as the young half-werewolf noticed a single tear leak from Damian's otherwise clear eyes he reached up to wrap his arms around the other boys neck. "Hey, whatever it is you can tell me Damian, I'm your friend. I want to help you."

And then Teddy felt Damian wrap his own arms around Teddy, and shift his head to whisper, "He's gone. He's really gone." With that, Teddy froze, understanding thought still needing to ask, "Who's gone, Damian?"

At his question, it sounded like Damian chocked back a sob. This startled the metamorphous as it was so out of character for the other boy to show any emotion, really, let alone sadness and grief.

"My father," Damian whispered, quickly pulling out of Teddy's embrace and turning to face away. With his arms at his sides Damian added, "He's gone. He isn't coming back and I — I wasn't even there. I could have helped him, I know I could have. But I wasn't there. And, and without my Father... I'll be going back to my mother, I'm sure of it." Damian turned back around and met Teddy's eyes, "Teddy, I... I can't go back to my mother. I can't." And in that moment Damian looked so young with his round blue eyes. They were watering even more now, though no liquid escaped.

"Hey, okay," Teddy said, and always trying to be the problem solver added, "I'll go get Uncle Harry, okay. He can help, he won;t let you go back to her. Maybe you can even stay here? Let me go get him, it'll all be okay Damian, I promise."

Following his proclamation, Teddy Lupin sprinted to the living room at 12 am with the unsurprising gracelessness of someone with two left feet. In the living room he found Harry sitting in the wooden rocking chair with his head in his hands. Upon his entrance, Harry's head left his hands and his eyes met Teddy's.

"Ted," Harry said, "everything alright?" This made Teddy frown and shake his head, "I don't know, I don't know." He was quietly panicking now that Damian wasn't there. Teddy took a deep breath, "Okay, okay. I think you need to talk to him — his, his dad died, and um, he can't go back to his mom. And, please help him Uncle Harry. I don't know what to do."

With that, Harry stood from his chair and walked with Teddy back to the kitchen. Damian was sitting back in the chair that Harry had last seen him in, and Harry went to sit next to him.

Harry prompted the dark haired child, "Is everything okay?" And Damian answered with, "No, everything is not okay," but it was in such a bitter tone Harry was surprised it wasn't an old unwilling solider sitting in front of him.

As Teddy went to stand on the other side of the Breakfast Bar, Harry placed his hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Damian, please tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if you don't talk to me." (And Damian answers because that is how he wished his father had sounded when he was alive.)

Damian explained that his father is gone and that he just knows he is going to be sent back to his mother and he'll no longer be able to go to school and no longer be able to see Teddy and that cannot happen. It cannot.

Through all this Harry listened patiently and calmly and when the young boy is done speaking, harry grabs his hands and places them in his lap, "Damian, why don't you stay here for tonight, and in the morning we can Floo you home and sort everything out, okay? I won;t let you go back to your mother, I promise. I am, however, sure there is someone else in your family you can stay with. Okay? Sound good?"

And Damian nods looking exhausted. Harry tells his Godson, "i'll go get some blankets and pillows, Teddy can you get Damian some pajama's — he can't sleep in a suit."

Everyone does as told, and Damian is led to the living room couch bundled in pajamas's that are a little to long for him in the arms and legs. He still wears his ball dress socks when he climbs into the makeshift bed that is the couch.

Once Damian is settled, Harry instructs Teddy to go back up to bed and soon Harry follows and gets himself ready for bed.

An hour later, a wide-awake 11 year-old half-werewolf creeps down the steps, with a pillow and blanket in hand. He plops himself between the the couch and the TV and in just a few more hours Ginny Potter comes home from her party, and finds the two boys huddled together on the couch. And, hours after that in the morning, Harry and Ginny find the two boys and their three other kids piled onto the small couch.

(this story was completely inspired by by a Tumblr post but i cant find it rn so and this is also posted on wattpad lol i tried but i cant rlly write so eh)


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